Ethan looked at Anna with tired eyes. He understood nothing anymore.
"Why are you doing this?" he asked quietly.
"You're a Corvin. You're supposed to kill me…"
Anna looked at him for a long, attentive moment. Something like sadness flickered in her gaze.
"Because I'm tired of being a tool in someone else's hands, Ethan."
"And because… I see how hard you're trying to stay yourself. You're the only one who's ever been kind to me."
"That's rare."
She took a step back. The haze around her began to thicken again.
"Find Elizabeth. When you return, I'll be waiting for the signal."
"And until then… be careful."
The Luft swirled around Anna, growing denser. Her figure began to dissolve.
"One more thing," she added, already almost gone.
"Don't trust anyone in this city. Not even those who seem like allies."
Her last words came from empty air.
The haze slipped back through the window crack and vanished.
The kitchen fell silent once more.
Flash slowly holstered his revolver. Gideon lowered his pistol. Bruno still gripped the knife, but not as fiercely.
Ethan stood motionless, staring at the spot where Anna had been.
"Was she telling the truth?" Gideon asked quietly.
Flash let out a heavy sigh and ran a hand over his face.
"I don't know. But we don't have any other choice. If the witch really can stop what's crawling through Ethan… we have to take the risk."
He looked at Ethan.
"How are you? Ready to go?"
Ethan nodded slowly. The black lines on his neck twitched faintly.
"Ready," he answered.
"If this can help me stay myself… then I'm ready for anything."
Bruno set the knife down and leaned back in his chair with a tired sigh.
"Then let's pack up. New York is waiting!"
Gideon reloaded his pistol. Bruno, despite his weakness, slung a small bag containing Laurent's documents and key over his shoulder.
Ethan stood by the door last. Flash walked to the front door, put his hand on the handle, and took a deep breath.
"Ready?" he asked quietly.
They all nodded. Flash turned the handle and opened the door.
Anna was standing on the threshold.
She had appeared so suddenly it was as if she had materialized from the air.
Anna slowly raised her hands, palms up.
"Need an escort?" she said.
"Where?" the men asked in unison, surprised.
"To the witch," Anna answered calmly.
"You're heading to Brooklyn, right?"
"I know where she's hiding and I know what traps Gérard has set along the way."
"You never know what might happen on the road. I'll lead you. This really is the last time I help."
She looked at Ethan. Something like embarrassment flickered in her gaze.
"Otherwise you might not make it."
Flash stared at her for a long time, weighing every word. Finally he slowly lowered his revolver.
"If this is a trap…"
"If this is a trap, you'll all die right here and now," Anna finished calmly.
She took a step back, giving them room to exit.
"So… are we going?"
Flash rolled his eyes.
They left the apartment. Anna walked ahead without looking back. Her figure seemed almost ghostly in the morning mist.
The guys followed, weapons ready, but no one fired.
They moved along empty outskirts streets, then crossed onto abandoned railway tracks and plunged deeper into the old industrial zone.
The city gradually grew more and more dead.
Houses stood with boarded-up windows, streetlights were dark, and even the rare cars on the roads had disappeared.
Anna led them in silence until they reached a completely forsaken part of the city, an old residential district that now looked like a graveyard.
Broken windows, collapsed roofs, rusted car skeletons. Electricity worked only in flickers here: streetlamps would flash with dim yellow light, then go out, leaving the streets in total darkness.
Everywhere were symbols of protection.
On walls, doors, asphalt. Runes, pentagrams, ancient seals drawn in chalk, charcoal, and something that looked suspiciously like dried blood.
Some of the symbols glowed faintly when Ethan or Anna passed nearby.
Ethan felt it immediately. He stopped for a second and touched his neck. The lines trembled under his fingers but did not crawl any further.
"It's quiet," he whispered to himself. "I don't hear the voices…"
Anna, walking ahead, stopped and glanced back.
"We're here," she said quietly.
"This is the place. The witch lives here. But be careful."
"She doesn't like guests. Especially those who carry something like that." She nodded at the black stake in Ethan's hands.
Anna took a step back. The haze around her began to thicken again.
"I won't go any farther. She can sense me, and if I step inside the house, you won't see me again."
She looked at Ethan one last time, almost with sadness.
"And remember, Ethan… you still have a choice."
With those words she simply dissolved. The Luft spun into a vortex and vanished into the air, leaving behind only a faint trace of perfume.
The guys were left alone in the middle of the dead district.
Only the dim flickers of electricity in the broken streetlamps and the ancient symbols on the walls, glowing faintly in response to Ethan's presence.
Ethan gripped the black stake tighter.
"The souls… they're afraid of this place."
Flash looked around, revolver ready.
"Then that's a good sign," he said.
"It means the witch really can help."
They moved on down the empty street, stepping carefully between broken glass and old protective symbols.